From teens to seniors: Fraudsters customize scams by age in AP
Each age group is susceptible to distinct cyber financial frauds, enabling scammers to siphon off lakhs to crores from unsuspecting victims.
Youngsters aged 20–25, particularly students and unemployed youth, are being lured with fake online and overseas job offers promising attractive pay, flexible hours, and career growth. Fraudsters share links to bogus portals, tricking victims into divulging personal information or making advance payments.
Inspector of cybercrime police station, Vizag, K Bhavani Prasad said working professional between 30 and 45 years fall prey to investment scams. With aspirations to grow their income, individuals are often targeted with fraudulent stock market tips, crypto investment traps, and high-return promises. Scams promising easy profits are particularly aimed at those seeking financial advancement, with many receiving misleading messages and advertisements.
Regulatory bodies have repeatedly cautioned investors to remain vigilant, but the prevalence of such fraudulent schemes continues to rise, causing significant losses and distrust among the public, he added.
On average, more than 300 cybercrimes are being reported each month in Andhra Pradesh. Among various types of cybercrimes, victims are suffering significant financial losses, with amounts ranging from Rs10 lakh to Rs one crore in each reported case of investment fraud.
Notably, it has come to light that some high-profile individuals who have fallen prey to investment frauds are choosing not to lodge complaints, often due to feelings of embarrassment, said a senior police officer.
Senior citizens aged 60 to 70 are increasingly falling prey to digital arrest scams. Fraudsters, masquerading as government or law enforcement officials (CBI, ED, Customs and others), are contacting victims, levelling accusations of serious crimes and subsequently extorting money on the pretext of helping them avoid legal trouble.
Cities like Vizag, Vijayawada, Tirupati and Kurnool cities in the state contribute around 40 to 50 per cent of Andhra Pradesh's cybercrime cases.
"Despite a decrease in physical crimes like thefts, robbery and assault, white-collar cybercrime is on the rise in the state and the cybercrooks have been coming up with new means of duping people to the tune of crores" . "We're focusing on advanced technological tools to curb such offenses," a senior police offier said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
12 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Guidelines to protect lawyers from summons is not immunity: Supreme Court
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the guidelines proposed to protect lawyers from being summoned by investigating agencies for giving legal advice would not confer immunity on legal professionals who commit a crime. A view of Supreme Court (Sonu Mehta/HT FILE PHOTO) A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai and justice K Vinod Chandran made the observation during its hearing on a suo motu petition to frame guidelines to shield lawyers from investigating agencies summoning them for giving advice to clients facing criminal prosecution. The court asked the country's two top law officers, Attorney General R Venkatramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, to study the suggestions received from lawyer bodies and propose the possible directions that can be issued. The matter was taken up by the court following two instances where senior lawyers Arvind Datar and Pratap Venugopal were summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing the grant of Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOP) by Care Health Insurance to former Religare Enterprises chairperson Rashmi Saluja. The ESOPs numbering over 22.7 million were valued at ₹250 crore. Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the ED, asked the court not to lay down any guidelines, reasoning that stray incidents such as these were condemnable but should not become the basis for the courts to establish guidelines. 'individual instances should not be sufficient to change the legal framework. As lawyers, we want to be protected. But not everyone may be discharging their duty credibly. There may be a possibility of summoning them within the framework of the law. But any future judicial legislation in this regard will make the task of investigating agencies counter-productive,' Mehta said. The bench said, 'We cannot ignore the recent instances. An eminent lawyer had been issued summons. We have made it clear that there is no protection for any crime. If somebody is assisting the client in destroying evidence, certainly they can be accused of destruction of evidence. But can that be done for giving advice?' The two lawyers' bodies of the Supreme Court - Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) submitted their suggestions to the court. Senior advocate Vikas Singh, who is also SCBA president, submitted that in cases where the investigation agency has direct evidence against a lawyer, the same can be considered by the magistrate. If the magistrate feels that the evidence is admissible, summons can be issued, Singh said. SCBA secretary Pragya Baghel, who submitted the association's submissions, traced the protection afforded under the law to lawyers that protects privileged communication between the lawyer and client under the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam that replaced the Indian Evidence Act. Similar protection is also available under the Companies Act. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, assisting the court, pointed out that the guidelines should also address the issue of receiving fees for the legal opinion tendered to a firm or person facing criminal prosecution. Attorney General R Venkatramani, assisting the court in the suo motu proceedings, assured the court that he will examine all suggestions and report back with his observations. The court asked both AG and SG to examine the suggestions and revert on the next date of hearing on August 12, when the bench will consider passing further directions. SCAORA, which had described the ED summons to the two senior lawyers as a 'chilling signal to the legal community', told the court that the unwarranted summons to advocates to disclose information concerning clients involved in criminal proceedings undermines the sanctity of the lawyer-client relationship and poses a serious threat to the integrity of India's criminal justice system. Senior advocate ANS Nadkarni, who represented SCAORA, pointed out a recent instance from Kolkata where the laptop of a lawyer practising before the Calcutta high court was seized. 'On the laptop, there is not just information about one client but all his clients. It is the lifeline of the lawyer's practice,' Nadkarni said, expressing concern over the search and seizure of lawyers conducted by investigating agencies that need judicial oversight. The submissions handed over by the SCAORA office bearers pointed out that the Bar Council of India rules explicitly prohibit advocates from committing, directly or indirectly, any breach of the obligations to their client, breach of which amounts to professional misconduct. 'The duty to maintain confidentiality is not merely statutory but is deeply embedded in the ethical and professional framework governing advocates in India. Disclosing privileged communication without client consent may constitute professional misconduct and attract disciplinary consequences,' SCAORA said.
Indian Express
12 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Chief inspection officer caught red-handed accepting Rs 1.75 lakh for not acting against gas agency
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday trapped the chief inspection officer, rationing department, while allegedly accepting Rs 1.75 lakh bribe in Mumbai. According to ACB, the accused, Vinayak Vasant Nikam, had sought the same amount per month from a gas agency against whom he had taken action in the past. According to ACB, the complainant works as a manager in a gas agency in Kandivali. His relatives also have a gas agency in Thane. In October 2024, action was taken against the complainant's gas agency by Nikam. In August 2024, action was taken against the gas agency of his relatives in Thane by the rationing department. Thereafter, on July 16, Nikam contacted the complainant on his mobile and asked him to come and meet him in the office. Accordingly, when the complainant met Vinayak Nikam on July 17, he demanded a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh per month for not taking action against the complainant's gas agency and Rs 1 lakh for not taking action against the gas agency of his relatives, totalling Rs 2.5 lakh per month. When the complainant said he cannot pay that much money and asked for some way out, the accused told him that he would have to talk to 'saheb'. The next day the accused contacted the complainant and said he had spoken to saheb, and asked him to meet him. However, since the complainant did not want to pay the bribe, he appeared in person at the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Worli, Mumbai on July 25 and filed a complaint. The ACB verified the complaint and found it to be genuine. Accordingly, the complainant was asked to meet the accused, and the latter was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 1.75 lakh from the complainant. Accordingly, a case was registered against him, and he was placed under arrest.
Time of India
19 minutes ago
- Time of India
Telangana CID arrests cooperative society chairman, his son for duping 2,000 investors of Rs 140 crore
Hyderabad: The Crime Investigation Department (CID) on Tuesday arrested the chairman of a multi-state cooperative society limited and his son for allegedly duping more than 2,000 investors and employees of about Rs 140 crore. The arrested accused have been identified as Thippeneni Ramadasappa Naidu, 61, chairman of Mudra Agriculture Skill Development multi-state cooperative society ltd and his son, 43-year-old Thippeneni Sai Kiran. CID officials arrested Naidu from Amaravati in AP, while his son and society member, Sai Kiran, was arrested from Hyderabad. Both were produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody on Tuesday. According to CID, Naidu floated the cooperative society in 2017 and marketed it as a govt-backed entity on the lines of the Centre's Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana. He also gave advertisements for the recruitment of 2,000 govt marketing supervisor jobs and high-interest investment bonds that would convert into shares of a proposed co-operative bank. Applicants were made to deposit money as share capital. You Can Also Check: Hyderabad AQI | Weather in Hyderabad | Bank Holidays in Hyderabad | Public Holidays in Hyderabad 'Altogether 330 branches were opened in two Telugu states and around 1,600 employees were hired to mobilise funds from daily-wage workers, farmers and small traders across Telangana and AP. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Beyond Text Generation: An AI Tool That Helps You Write Better Grammarly Install Now Undo The accused used to slash salaries of workers if they failed to achieve investment collection targets,' CID SP K Venkata Lakshmi said. The money collected through a fraudulent scheme was parked in industrial plots purchased through APIIC in Anantapur district of AP. Some properties were purchased in the Keesara area too, CID sources said. From 2020 onwards, victims started lodging police complaints against the accused and till 2022, 10 cheating cases were booked against the accused at Nallakunta, Kacheguda, Gambhiraopet, Ramayampet, Dubbaka, Vemulawada, Achampet, and Atmakur. All the cases are currently under investigation by the CID, Telangana. CID is analysing the fund trail to identify additional conspirators and assets.
